someone please help, or i'm setting it on fire

[bfdbatt2]

swapped obc. gave up last night and went to bed w/ hazards not working and headlights only when car is running. this morning, fixed hazards, switch in wrong place. fixed heat, temp control stuck. bumped cd player, now it wont load cds. gave up on that, started to put dash back together. everything working until i fished the connect for the ac/recirc switch out from under the heat control lines....when i connected ac/recirc switch, dash lights went out and obc dimmed. wtf? trying to see if i had something switched, and in the process found that if i plug in the defrost switch where the ac/ recirc goes, and push the button the dash lights come back on and the obc illuminates, but only w/ headlights off. pull headlight switch to on position and lose the obc and dash lights. it aint bulbs....its a gremlin or something. so what have i switched or loosened?

[StereoInstaller1]

Hokay, man, let me see if I can help you a bit.

First off, LEARN TO MAKE PARAGRAPHS!!!! Your post is one big sentence, and no one wants to read that shit. If you slept through grammar class, go suck up to your teacher.

What the hell, she might have a hottie daughter.

So...pretty much anytime you have a circuit that "works when this is on, but won't work when that is on" kind of bullshit, you have a ground issue. Power flows from positive to negative...if a circuit does not have a solid ground, it cannot flow.

So now for the dirty trick...watch closely here...if a circuit has no ground, it will get ground from some related circuits POSITIVE side (tricky, huh?)...until you turn it on, that is...

Does this make sense? Any circuit will pull ground from a neighbor circuit, trying desperately to work...Look for early 90's Camrys with taillights that turn off when you use the brakelights, a classic example of shitty grounds in the taillight housings. Drive around the ghetto, you will see that shit everywhere.

So the FIRST thing to do is STOP TAKING SHIT APART until you have half a clue where and what the circuits are. Spend a FEW HOURS reading the manual that can be found here. FIgure out where your loose grounds are, or if you have other voltage issues.

Second thing to do is BUY A FUCKING TESTLIGHT! Do NOT fucking waste your time (and mine) using a goddamn DVM...use a fucking testlight, please...I mean an old fashioned lightbulb type...if you cannot deal with the concept of testiong a ground by attaching the end of the lead to a +12V source, tow your shit to a shop!

There are clusters of grounds all over our cars. Read that fucking manual, you will see exactly where they are and what they run...then, you will never ever fear the electrical nightmares again.

Luke

[bfdbatt2]

thx

i appreciate you trying to help. thanks.